COMPUTER SOFTWARE FRAMEWORK AND METHOD FOR MANAGING COMMUNICATION FLOW BETWEEN A USER INTERFACE AND A COMPUTER APPLICATION

The present invention discloses a computer software framework and method for managing communication flow between a user interface and a computer application performing a task comprising a plurality of steps. The sequence of the steps is controlled by the application, and a user operating the user interface controls the progression through the steps. Each step is mapped to an output file containing information to be sent to the user interface in support of the step. Each task is mapped to an output generator that generates an output sent via an output medium to the user interface based upon the content of the output file. A task object is instantiated, which models the task. The task object receives a progressional input from the user interface and receives a step sequence input from the application. The task object compares the progressional input to the step sequence input to identify a subsequent step, identifies the output file mapped to the subsequent step, and calls the output generator mapped to the task to generate an output to the user interface based upon the content of the output file mapped to the subsequent step.